


Ivory

by antsu_in_my_pantsu



Series: Greyscales [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/F, Pining, Rare Pairings, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, kaemugi, op is a kaede lovebot, piano playing, this is basically just kaede loveposting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 15:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20744537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antsu_in_my_pantsu/pseuds/antsu_in_my_pantsu
Summary: Tsumugi learns the Flea Waltz and falls deeper into a tempestuous love.Kaede teaches the Flea Waltz and doesn't seem to love anyone.





	Ivory

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!! This is my very first post of all time!! I'm extremely nervous, as I'm critical of my own writing and I don't want others to add to that judgement. However, my friend convinced me, so I'm posting in a tired stupor at 10:20 PM. This ship means a lot to me, and I adore the dramatic relationship they share (in my brain, at least). I especially love kaemugi from the POV of a regretful and guilty Tsumugi, so that's why this is written in 3rd person limited. Please enjoy!! <3

“Shirogane? You want to spend time with me?”

Tsumugi swallowed, her saliva viscous and uncomfortably thick over her tongue, which sat like dead weight behind her teeth. Words appeared to have fled her thoughts and for good reason; the girl in front of her was breathtakingly gorgeous. It was plain to see, with the light flush of her cheeks and in the way her flaxen hair captured the streams of sunlight. Sunlight that was not meant to be theirs, sunlight that came from outside the walls of the haggard Hope’s Peak Academy, yet it was sunlight that they were able to share in this fleeting moment nonetheless.

Tsumugi nods. For a beat, they stand in a pregnant silence. It wasn’t unbearably long, for Kaede soon took Tsumugi by the hand and laughed in an awkward way, a melodic sound that erupted from the innermost depths of her chest. They meander throughout the halls, mindlessly brushing vines and kicking rocks as they walk in and out of streams of sunlight.

“You’re normally so talkative,” Kaede’s voice pierces through, then softens. “I understand if you changed your mind. You can leave if you want to, Shirogane,”

Tsumugi’s head is reeling from hearing the other say her name twice in such a short span of time, and she longed to hear her first name on Kaede’s lips. In the midst of a daze, Tsumugi sputters an apology and lame excuse, launching into a tangent on an off-brand anime she prepared and memorized months ago. For someone so loquacious, she wishes she had something of more substance to say. Kaede listens dutifully, nodding her head and humming in response at all the right parts, which only made the whole situation more maddening. Tsumugi didn’t want to hear her own voice, one that she had grown far too tired of, she wanted to hear Kaede’s and Kaede’s only. After a few moments, Tsumugi ceased her ranting.

“Akamatsu? I… feel bad, only talking about my interests. Let’s do something you want to!” She said, timidly.

Kaede’s flushed cheeks darken. “Ah, you’re too thoughtful, but I really only play piano as a hobby. I guess I’m king of boring, aren’t I?”

“No! It’s not boring at all!” Tsumugi responds a beat too fast, nearly cutting of Kaede’s words. Stupid. “Then… teach me how to play piano. Yeah, teach me to play so we can have a shared interest.”

The other’s pink eyes illuminate, lustrous and inviting. “That’s a great idea!” - Kaede sets her jaw in a way that’s almost a glower - “And once we leave this place, I could teach you how to play those ‘anime opening’ songs you talk about!”

The last sentence sent Tsumugi into a state of malady, yet she had to quell the feeling as quickly as it came on, for Kaede was already leading her to talent research facility. The room was darling, furnished with hardwood floors, stacks upon stacks of sheet music lining the walls, and in the middle resided a prodigious piano. Kaede excitedly danced over to it, running her slender fingers over the glossy woodwork before tentatively sitting down and gesturing for Tsumugi to follow. The navy-haired girl sat at the bench, moving to open the case before Kaede promptly slapped her hand away, earning a frightened “eep!”

“Sorry if I startled you, It’s just that warm-ups are extremely important if you want to be on the top of your game!”

She punctuated the sentence with a small, yet determined grin. It was undeniably cute.

Kaede led Tsumugi in what should have been simple warm-ups to build dexterity and relieve tension in any joints; however, Tsumugi found it rather difficult to put her all into it when Kaede’s hands moved in such a mesmerizing fashion. Every flick of the wrist, every tilt of the digits, every infinitesimal movement was performed with an uncanny grace, one that proved to be other worldly in its perfection and precision. Before she was aware of what has happening, Kaede opened the piano cover, revealing neat ivory keys. They were cleanly white to the point where they appeared bleached. It was unsettling to be in the presence of something so immaculate when Tsumugi herself was anything but.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Kaede turned to face the other girl, eyes wide in zeal. “What song should we start off with? I was thinking something easy, such as The Flea Waltz?”

Tsumugi was acutely aware of how close their faces were at this moment, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She certainly wasn’t going to make a comment. Her mind wasn’t processing Kaede’s words. Fuck. “Anything,”

Kaede clapped her hands together, grinning widely and brightly. “Okay, I’ve never actually taught anyone how to play before, so I’m not really sure what I’m doing. Uhm, I think I’ll play an octave up and you can play an octave down. So, start by placing your left hand’s thumb on F…”

She gave further instructions, pointing to where Tsumugi was to move her hands. Kaede would play a note or two, and Tsumugi would follow in suit. This became problematic, as Tsumugi wasn’t sure how to connect all of the smaller sections in a cohesive manner, and Kaede was unsure of how to explain such rudimentary techniques to her. It was also difficult to repeat after Kaede, as Tsumugi had an untrained ear, and the octave difference only contributed to this issue. It didn’t help that Tsumugi would purposefully mess up from time to time in hopes of watching the pianist play the sequence again with her concentrated expression and strong hands, but Kaede didn’t need to know that. Other times it made Tsumugi sick, in every possible meaning of the word, to play the song she knew she would hear in a few days, a song that indicates she has lost. Maybe she wouldn’t lose the game, but she’d lose something far more valuable than a simple fictional character. They attempt to work like this for fifteen minutes or so. Kaede mutters something to herself and rises from the bench, causing Tsumugi’s blood to run cold. The thought of Kaede leaving so soon was already too much to bear, and she was desperate to grasp onto her for as long as possible. If she could stay in Kaede’s ethereal presence for even a moment longer, then perhaps her sins would be cleansed. Tangled in her thoughts, Tsumugi only became aware of the fact that Kaede was behind her when she placed her hands over Tsumugi’s from behind.

“Akamatsu,” The mastermind couldn’t manage to add a questioning quality to the word; she simply stated it into the void, perhaps hoping it would be received anyway.

Kaede shifted so her arms were also on top of Tsumugi’s, chest pressing against the other's back. She smelled of chrism and hope.

Cheerfully, she said. “I just figured it’d be easier for me to teach you like this!”

Of course, it was an innocent thing to do. It was so incredibly like Kaede to seek better solutions, more efficient solutions to complications. In actuality, it was one of her greatest weaknesses, but in this moment Tsumugi was inclined to believe it was her greatest strength. Tsumugi willed words to come out of her mouth from some functioning part of her brain, some stupid allusion to a video game paired with an anime-esque hand gesture, and Kaede laughed. It was not mean spirited nor was it loud; it was soft and genuine in a nuanced way that left Tsumugi light-headed.

Kaede lightly pressed on Tsumugi’s fingers with her own as an indication of which keys to press and when. Tsumugi went through the motions absently, for all her mind could focus on was the warmth of the blonde’s skin, the way her arms fell so delicately over Tsumugi’s, and the subdued nature of her voice. The mastermind was incredulous to the fact that she could have created something so perfect, for surely only a god could handle such a task of molding a husk of a person into Kaede Akamatsu. Thus, Tsumugi decided that she had no right to take credit for the subtle perfections of Kaede’s character. Subtleties such as the the fact her hair possessed lighter and darker streaks disseminated throughout it and the light freckles dusted the bridge of her nose. Tsumugi quickly became grateful that the blonde was behind her, unaware of how red the blue girl's face had become.

Unfortunately, the lesson was over just as quickly as it started, for it only took Tsumugi ten minutes to figure out how to play the Flea Waltz with Kaede’s new and improved instruction technique. She could play the entire peace with ease theoretically, but the absence of Kaede made her rush through the notes, squishing them together as quickly as possible until they became an indistinct mass of sound ringing through the air. It was an abhorrent noise. Tsumugi convinced herself that this way, she wouldn’t have to subject herself to the finality of the song. She rose from the bench with shaking legs, praying the the God she didn’t believe existed that there were no traces of desperation or concupiscence on her face. Despite the terrible final product, Kaede praised her nonetheless.

“You learn quick for a beginner, actually!” Kaede took one of Tsumugi’s hands into her own, toying with the taller girl’s fingers. “ You have such good dexterity, too, probably from making cosplay things.”

“I-I didn’t think I was that good,” Tsumugi said honestly.

Kaede cupped the other girl’s cheeks, calloused hands pressing into Tsumugi’s soft flesh. “Nonsense, Shirogane. I’m sure there are many far worse than you.”

She said this with an intense gaze that resided deep within her eyes; it didn’t match her lighthearted tone. When Kaede finished speaking, she didn’t move her hands away. Quite the contrary, actually, she took a step closer, sliding one hand down Tsumugi’s jaw to grip her chin. Her intentfull eyes were set on Tsumugi’s, vivid pink mixing with watery grey. Tsumugi was sure she was going to get kissed in that very moment. She was certain she was going to feel Kaede’s lips that were chewed to hell and back on her own, and she was going to find reprieve from her auto-enacted penance.

This did not happen.

Kaede drew her stare away, head snapping rather sharply. She brushed over Tsumugi’s thumb in a curt fashion, then jerked her hands away as if they were in boiling water. Perhaps there was an underlying repulsion in her action, a disgust, for it contained such a pointed intentness in how sharply she pulled away.

"Sorry, Shirogane. You, uhm, had something on your nose,” She rushed the words out, suddenly very interested in the scuffs on her shoes.

“It’s fine,” It was not, in fact, fine.

Perhaps this was her atonement. She must endure coming so close to having such a divine entity match her love, yet ultimately be left disheartened and more hollow than before. This was surely a more excruciating expiation than shouldering the cross. Feeling the nails dig into her palms, cracking the tendons and bone as hot blood dribbled down her outstretched arms, would be more pleasurable than wishing for the unattainable in this moment.

_Kaede Akamatsu, I wish I never met you._

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, that's the post.  
I really hope you enjoyed read this!! I already have a part 2 partially written. Let's hope I don't fall into a hopeless pit of insecurity and consequently never post again. I have other social medias, where you can find more of my annoying ass at!!  
Instagram - @wormweeb  
Tumblr - @antsu-in-my-pantsu, @wormweeb


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